The Wayfaring Magican
by Foxdog
Summary: Under reconstruction.
1. Prologue

The year was 2197 and it was spring, what was once called New York City. A was an old subway train that was making its last run for the night. There was only one last rider, a heavy armored soldier named PVT. Vindr-Hjarta Sage. He carried a semi-automatic long barreled shotgun that could also fire rifle rounds. His head gear off he was a long haired male. Light brown hair that reached his shoulders refused to darken anymore than it had, and deep green eyes the color of a sycamore leaf on a summer day. His pace was thin, pale, but proud and defiant against pain and suffering.

_Memories. Death cries, explosions, pain, tears, blood, so much blood._

The train continued on its way, a loud rumble and the occasional flickering of lights.

_And still, the bitter cold, a pain even deeper, a pain that is worse then death, that is worse than hell._

He stared at a photo in his right hand as he grasped his weapon with his right and aloud his ballistic shield to lean onto his side. His pack at his feet his helmet in his lap. Sage Sighed. "Why?" He asked to address everything in general. He closed his eyes. "Why?" He repeated tucking the photo back into his helmet.

_And yet there as she breathed the final gasps of her life, holding her in his arms. When she slipped into the life after life, he became the last Windheart._

Sage noticed a little girl wearing a winter dress in the corner. He didn't hear anyone come in so he tried to keep his face blank as he kept the little one in his peripheral vision. A red head with waist long hair and hazel, almost yellow eyes. around the age of ten and her winter dress was a solid blue. He blinked and restrained himself from jumping when he saw her standing directly in front of him. "Watch ya doing?" She said cocking her head to the side in a curious manner. Sage shook his head. "Didn't anyone teach you not to talk to strangers?" He asked in a irritated voice. The girl sat down beside him. "Nope." She said with a sweet smile. "I was taught how to hurt people if they try to do something bad to me though." Sage gave a ghost of a grin. "My name is Ambi and you are Private Vindr-Hjarta? Weird name." She said giggling.

Sage stood up gathering his gear and moved to the other side of the car. As he sat down Ambi sat down with him. "Little girl, I don't need to listen to you go on in a sassy ramble." He muttered. Ambi cocked her head to the opposite side. "Then don't, but I'm still going to fallow you." She replied.  
Sage sighed. "And why is that?" He inquired. Ambi giggled. "To see what you do next." She said and as the lights flickered she vanished. "Well, that was random." He thought aloud. A few moments later he was thrown forward, and the last thing he remembered before he blacked out was a sudden pain in his chest, like something ripping through his ribcage around his lungs and arteries.

He woke up a few seconds later in pain. He gasped as he stared at a gagged piece of metal protruding out his upper chest near his shoulder and under his first rib on his right side. He grabbed the metal and began to pull himself off of it towards the end. It was agonizing, and he began to bleed worse than he was before.

_And when it seems that he hit rock bottom, a new beginning ... just happens, and a new chance , a new life, begins for him._

It seemed like forever, as he pulled himself off the metal completely. He laid there gasping, bleeding, and then he noticed before he blacked out, that he was in a older train car that was in ruins.


	2. Settling into Midgar

It took Sage half a year to settle into Midgar. There was a few things he had found out upon taking residency in this world. He found out very quickly that he was unable to say the names of anything from his old world. His city, country, state. Even his last name. He acquired a job at a diner-bar. He knew how to cook already. Some of the foods were strange to him, the meats and plants. But they were edible so he simply payed it no mind. A lot of tofu was served in Midgar. It was the cheapest and most abundant food there was besides noodles and rice. He shared a house with three room mate. A woman name Jessie, who was a tech wiz, a porky but strong man named Wedge who was somewhat timid, and a well built and evened out man who's name was Biggs, loved ninja films and insisted on calling Sage "Magic Man." The one thing he noticed at first was that they avoided looking directly into his eyes. He knew why. The shadows around his eyes gave him a haunting appearance in contrast to his bright green eyes.

The Two other men, Biggs and Wedge shared a bunk with one another in one room, Jessie slept in the basement where the only computer was located, and Sage slept on a couch in the attic. He had a desk up there with much writing material and a lamp. He entertained himself for hours writing about everything that he seen on his wanderings when he had time to himself. He was writing a field journal about everything from monsters that inhabited the slums to the architecture of Midgar, and from the businesses that existed in the slums to materia. He was a quick traveler and had soon figured out ways to bypass the security to do so. Several times he's been chased out of restricted areas and several times he found wanted pictures of a strange man wearing pointy hat and what looked like a bat suit. He laughed, Shinra was never quite able too capture him nor ever give a correct disruption.

It was his room mates who knew the most about him and what they knew about him was the tip of the iceberg. He found himself becoming a mysterious being, even to himself. He didn't do it on purpose. It seemed to be his new nature. He was drawn to things, especially things that pertained to magic. He avoided contact with materia for instance, but he wrote everything he herd about it. He had a deep interest in the small magical ball that was made of compressed mako.

Although Sage was an oddity in Midgar, the way he was dressed didn't drawl very much attention, there were plenty of weirdos who wore the same attire, although they were not as raggedly dressed as he. None of them could truly do magic either, and that was why he was nick named "Magic Man."

Sage was looking out of a window. The slums lay before him as usual. He examined the window without much thought, There was no glass of coarse, nor was there need of it. There was no wind in the lower parts of the slums. The window was simple two steel bars crossed to keep things from coming in. Sage sighed. He missed the elements. He stood up, got dressed and went down stairs for a meal.

His room mates were still asleep. He smiled a little at the thought of breakfast alone. It has been close to six months and he still couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to be left alone more often then he wanted to be around people or not. He checked the refrigerator for cheese (from what creature it was milked from he did not know but it tastes sweeter than cow's cheese,) and he tuned to the bread box on the counter and pulled out a loaf rapped in plastic.

"Good, your up bright and early." Came a female voice from a doorway. Sage simply took a second to compose himself before he replied, "Good morning Jessie." His voice could hide it's tiredness but he tried his best to sound alive, it was the season of celebration after all. "And he speaks! Gosh I haven't heard that voice in weeks!" Sage ignored her smart comment and finished making his cheese sandwich. It was a meager meal but then he never ate that much to begin with. "Your meal for the day?" She teased getting a box from one cabinet and a bowl from another. She measured the contents out before poring it into the bowl and then going to the sink. "How do you survive on just a sandwich anyhow? Wedge could down eight of those." She asked with some concern to her voice. Sage actually turned around and smiled at her. "I've had leaner times. My family has done without a lot of things, it may seem unreal to you but these slums are richer then the place I use to live and the buildings there scrape the clouds." He answered. "I did without for quite awhile." Jessie nodded. He had told them all about his home but she just dismissed it as the same story. There was no such city on this planet that he described, even though it was well detailed he could never quite tell them what this city was named.

Biggs and Wedge were up soon after Jessie entered the kitchen and joined Sage with her healthy bowl of mush. As if to prove her point, Wedge finished the loath of bread off with about eight sandwiches while Biggs ate leftover tofu and some type of fish. Sage went to fix himself some tea, which everyone else left alone. They couldn't stand the stuff and Sage was one who like to have his tea strong. He heat up some water in a kettle and waited for it to boiled before poring some into a mug and setting a packet full of crushed tea leaves into his mug. The group stared at him as he started to drink the stuff. "It's nice to have something to warm stomach in the mornings." He commented with a more cheery smile before taking another sip of the scolding hot liquid.

For his room mates, they viewed hot tea as a form of torture, it had a bitter taste that they couldn't stand and they always scolded themselves. They always drank energy drinks, mineral water, and soda, and beer. Sage, besides tea, reveled in just having a cup of coffee. He came from the poorest of the poor and his Conservative way of life showed very clearly to his roomies. "So, shall I go and get the food for the party or do you guys want me to look for a proper table cloth?" Sage asked them with a slight grin on his face as he had his little breakfast. The men didn't speak, they rubbed their fingers through there hair or scratched the back of their heads. It was Jessie who spoke up. "Actually, We were hoping for you to go and buy some materia. You don't have to bring it home, just order it that's all." she said knowing that she was now on a touchy subject with a crazy loon.

Well, they didn't really think he was crazy but many of his habits and actions were unorthodox. Sage frowned. He knew why they wanted the materia, cause a disruption at Shinra HQ so their focus would be redirected to the main building. Then they could do whatever they wanted without having grunts yelling at them or trying to arrest them. Total anarchy. Sage held his frown. "I'll do it. But only because it's winter. I never wanted to go near that shop." Sage said firmly.

Wedge stood up with his hands in the air as if to slow down or stop him. "Whoa, it's no big deal Magic-Man. If you don't want to go then don't." He said defensively. "It's no big deal." Sage forced a smile as he got up. "I'm going." He said simply. He left the room after pushing his chair in. Wedge went to fallow him but stopped when Biggs sent him a 'what's the point' look, shook his head, and returned to his breakfast. Wedge sat back down and a second later they heard the front door close. "He's really stubborn you know." Jessie said, amusement on her face. "once he makes up his mind there isn't much that will change it."

Sage and his companions lived in sector four. There was only one place that sold materia, and it was closing down. Sage walked outside. And looked around. Piles of junk metal and trash stood up high like ominous dark gray walls. Concrete walls stories high stood as barriers from one sector to the next and so on. Sage hated living in the Midgar slums, it was like a prison. Worse of all, he couldn'tbe intouch with the elements.. No wind, no rain, he couldn't even tell what ime of day it was because the upper plates blocked out all the sunlight, shrouding the slums in total darkness.

Sage faced towards the more populated areas, where the shops would be located. Getting to the main area would mean transversing through mazes of metal walls of junk and concrete barriers. These mazes where inhabited by cutthroats and monsters. Sage had is own way of doing this He took a deep breath of the cool stale air. He reached into his bag and grasped onto a coiled rope and pulled it out. He looked down at it and searched for frays. It was a thin and very long rope tied to a steel ball. It was in perfect condition for what he intended to do.

Sage adjusted his hat and made sure the threads that looped from either side of his hat from the bottom and under his chin. He lowered himself into a sprinting stance. He built up tensions before he sprung forward in a mad dash toward one of the piles. Wind rushed past his face pushing against him and slowing him down by only so much. It felt good to feel the wind again, even if it was caused by him.

Sage reached the piles of junk in a matter of seconds and he didn't stop or slow down but rather pumped his legs harder and jumped up onto one ledge and then another. He made it atop the pile within another few seconds. He dashed upon the top jumping from one surface to the next wen he couldn't run and leaping from one ledge to another when he encountered a dip that he could not hop across. He used the rope when he encountered gorges, deep dips that were to wide for him to leap a crossed without assistance. He would Uncoil the rope, whip the ball in a circle for a moment and the toss the rope at a bar, pipe, ledge, or something the ball would wrap around.

He swung in wide arcs using the momentum to sling shot himself into the air once more and magic to unwrap the rope so he could wrap it around another object. He ran a crossed roofs of peoples homes and other buildings and he soon jumped off one and onto the ground two stories below. He hit the ground with roll and was already in a sprinting stance when he stopped and he restarted his mad pace.

People shouted, and gasped as he dashed passed. They never got use to him running like this. He had never crashed into anyone, but seeing him dart passed them as if he was trying to catch the wind, and was almost managing to, was somewhat frighting.

Soon he skidded to a halt in the shopping plaza. He sighed. He knew he would hate doing this and perhaps regret it. But he said he would and so he walked to the materia shop, through the store's door and towards the counter. He rung the bell that was on the counter. "I was wondering when you would show up." Said a female voice he recognized a mediately.


	3. An old friend

Sage looked up to see the same strange girl staring back at him with a mischievous smile on her face. "It's been a while sage. How have you been?" She asked kindly. He was silent for a while.. He had caught sight of her eyes, the first time he had ever noticed what color they were. Liquid gold eyes, that held such life and happiness in them. He then looked down at her feet and up. "I'm been fine." He said, raising his eyebrow. "What happened to that fancy silk dress of yours?" He took note that she was no wearing a simple beige cotton dress that had a zipper in the back, a brown apron in the front, and a blue Gatsby. She smiled at him. "Let's just say, I had a preference upon what I do with my life, and freedom comes at a price, mainly all the things I had six months ago, I no longer have now." She said trying to be as vague as possible. "You lost most of your powers." He said laughed slightly. "I guess you could put it that way, my wealth and most of my magic is gone, but, I still have my birth rights and you, my knight." She answered with a wry smile before she turned to a shelf to examine a box. "Tea?" Although she didn't see Sage nod, she left the room to start it anyway.

It was a moment after words that she came back with two mugs, a tea set. She sat them down on a counter, went to a corner and pulled out a foldaway table and two foldaway chairs from behind a pile of boxes. Sage took note that the materia store was full of boxes, shelves and there was one solitary wooden counter in front of a door that led into the back of the store. she set up the tables herself, refusing Sage's help. when they finally were seated she pored hot water into both the mugs, dipped the packets into the steaming liquid and passed one of the mugs to sage. "So, you finally made your way here. I knew you eventually would." She said smiling as she let her tea steep.

Sage raised a eyebrow. "How so?" He challenged. The girl giggled. "Because your a magician. Your attracted to magic like ants are to sugar." She said simply. "My name is Ulva by the way. It's a Swedish name." She said proudly. Sage took note that her red hair was much longer then when he had seen it when they last met. "So why are you in this world," he asked uncertainly, "Ulva?" The girl smiled. "Your the only one in any world that I can truly call my friend." she answered simply. "Why do you ask? Are you not happy to see me?" She gave him a look of weariness before chuckling. "To be honest, you tend to have a knack for appearing when I'm most miserable." He said dryly. She gave him a grin. "Well I do my best to take your mind off of things for just a little while don't I" she asked and smiled with pleasure when he nodded reluctantly.

They drank there tea in silence for a moment before Ulva broke the silence. "I know you want to leave Midgar. Is it okay if I travel with you when you finally manage to leave?" She asked with a plain face. He gave her a questioning look before asking, "Why would you need my permission? You would go anyhow if you had the chance wouldn't you?" The red head sighed with disappointment. "I was hoping you would feel welcomed toward me traveling with you." She exclaimed with slight depression. "We aren't exactly on good terms then?" Sage straightened his back and closed his eyes. "We aren't really on any terms, you simply pop in and out of my life as you please. I'm not angry about that, nor happy or anything. I don't really know you. For me to even describe you," he paused. "All I could say is that cute red head girl that likes to pop up in the most interesting sections of my life, well, until I came to order materia."

Ulva smiled. She ignored the hint he gave her but was simply please he though she was cute. "But I'm your only friend in this world." She said simply and leveled. Sage shook his head. "I have my roomies you know, we watch each others' backs." He corrected her. She frowned. "They use you." She said with slight frustration. Sage frowned as well. "And You haven't?" He asked simply, more to prove a point. "People use me all the time, it's apart of my life that I've grown to accept. No one really cares what I think."

Ulva hid a upset look before she forced as smile. "I care." She said before getting up and taking the empty tea set away.

It was a few moments before she was back with a box. "I'm closing soon so you will have to take the materia from here. They're free, so don't bother and don't give me trouble, just take them. It will make it all the easier for me to close." She opened the box grabbed four small orbs the size of golf balls and thrust it into his chest. There was a blinding green light that emitted from the materia. She dropped them and shielded her eyes. A heavy tud resounded from the floor and when the light dispated she found Sage laying sprawled out on the floor. "Sage?" She said and then began to panic. "SAGE?"


	4. The Four Knights

Sage slowly opened his eyes. Not that it mattered Everything, even himself, was shrouded into total blackness. He was lying down, that he knew. On what, he didn't. It was neither soft nor hard. It had no feeling. He knew he was laying down simply because he was being pulled down in one direction, and no force interacted with his body. Not air, not anything. "To be thrust into one world and then into another." Said a gentle female voice. He looked up to see who spoke. A woman, garbed in a white hooded robe looked down at him from behind a white mask. Bright green eyes stared down at him lovingly with a sad look deep in her eyes. "Taira?" He asked weakly. She nodded. Sage looked around. "Where's Ma Ma and Pa pa?" He asked in the same manner. The woman sat down next to him. "Our mother was never a knight, Pa Pa is with Lady Windheart." She answered from behind the mask. But there are more important things now besides catching up. I'm sorry but we must move on for now."

Sage looked as if he wanted to argue for a moment, but he stayed silent. He debated whether he wanted to wait again. "I understand, but how will I come to speak with you again?" There was a long pause. "You won't." Said a rough male voice. It was a knight in full armor, head to toe. He glowed with a fiery rage. His armor was cherry red. "Sir Loga" Sage said simply but also respectfully. "It is a honor." The knight shook his head. "Your ungrateful for the last Windheart. How can you address a sister in such a manner?" He said in a rough and angered tone. It is okay, Sir Loga, because he is my Brother by birth, blood. We are true siblings." She answered defending her younger brother. "It does not excuse him." Came a dry and ancient male voice. A man in electric blue robes appeared. He was also masked, but his mask was sky blue, in contrast to his robes. They both shared the same bright green eyes that Sage and Taira did.

"No, it wouldn't if I was not the one who personally excused him of it Sir Prymja." Taira answered. A cool chuckle came from the background. "Well said Lady Taira." Said a cool female voice. A female knight appeared, she was in white chain mail that covered her whole body and a white tunic. She wore a gray mask with sky blue markings. Her hair was silver and so was her eyes. "Lady Shiva!" said Sage and Taira together. "An honor!" The woman's smile could be felt behind the mask. "Well met indeed." She answered. "Sage, do you know why Lady Windheart sent us?" Sage took a moment to consider, a moment to long for the blazing red knight. "She sent us to instruct you on the four materia magics that you acquired through contact with the orbs, mind you, this will not happen again." He said, his impatience seeping out every word. "Not as severely at least, you will be in contact with us until you mastered our magics. And even then you can still hear us." Said sir Prymjar.

The Lady Shiva turned towards Sir Loga. "And he won't learn from us well unless we are willing to teach him. Lady Windheart will not be pleased if we neglect him." She scolded the Red Knight. "Be happy that the last of the Windheart Knights is respectful as he is now. The last generation made him look like a saint and Sir Sage was simply neglected upon his education upon his heritage. He has shown us due respect that he can offer us. Be content." She turned back to sage. "Last of the Windheart Noble-men. I think you might be more than what we expect of you." She said coolly.

Sage smiled. "Please Lady Shiva, I'm but a humble young man. I'm only the decedent of the Windhearts. I'm no knight." He said dropping his gaze. Taira laughed. "All decedents of the Windhearts are knights, maybe not in our life but look at me brother..." She said holding her arms out and twisting around. "I am not the knight of healing." She said with a smile. Lady Shiva nodded and the walked towards Sage so they were eye to eye. "Until you have mastered our magic, you will hear our whisperings, it might drive you mad at times, sometimes you must block us out, doing so will hurt you, but at times you can not afford to listen to us. Write what we say in the spell book. When you finished the last level of each of our spell, we should trouble you no more until you call upon us, or we are sent to you." She said and then laid her hand on his shoulder. Prymja coughed. "If I may, You will be able to use our magic as if you used materia, sometimes there will be a delay, other times it will be instant, When you come in contact with another and different materia, you will be tutored by the knight who resides in that specific materia." The blue knight said dryly.

"Awaken Sir Sage, and good luck." Said Lady Shiva.

Everything was black again, but now he had returned to his body. He stirred. "Sage?" Came the female voice once again.


	5. The Meeting

"Sage?" Ulva asked quietly. "Sage, it's time to wake up now." There was a pause. Everything was black still, but it was warm, and the air was stale. He could feel. Then he felt someone stroking his hair. His eyes flickered open, everything was so blurry. "So this is the Magic man you guys were talking about?" Asked a deep male voice. Sage groaned and sat up blinking. "Yeah, he is. You wouldn't believe how fast he can run!" Said an excited voice of Wedge. Sage yawned. "Yeah I know, saw 'im with my own to eyes running this way two weeks ago." Sage's vision cleared up. He was inside his small home with his room mates Ulva and two people he did not recognize. A large dark skinned and muscular man with a gun grafted into his arm with a kind of Mohawk hair do and a fair skinned little girl in a purple dress who had brown hair and was hiding behind the gun armed man.

Sage's eyes flickered again. "So I was out for two weeks huh?" He asked in a calm voice. Jessie looked at him stunned. "How can you survive something like that? No food, no water? Sage you should be dead!" She said with a stunned look on her face. Sage shook his head. "No I shouldn't. I don't need food or water when I fall into an coma like that. It's just my body trying to re cooperate." He said simply.

All but Ulva stared at him. "I still feel a little bit tired." He said yawning. Biggs looked at sage with a funny raised eyebrow. "Wouldn't you need to go or something." He asked but Sage shook his head. "No, my body purges itself of toxins by converting it into a type of gas that is pushed out of my body through my pores, mouth, and nostrils. It would look like tendrils of black smoke rising from my body." Sage replied trying to stand up. He was a bit wobbly as if he was suffering from mild fatigue. The gun armed man helped him up and steady himself. "Thank you." He said looking the man over a bit. His green eyes searched the man's brown eyes for a second then turned to the little girl. He smiled then looked around.

"So, what is going on?" Sage asked as he started walking to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. The large man watched Sage with a smile. "I have been watching you run around Midgar for quite a while. I decided to ask if you would be interested in joining me in a anti Shinra group." The man said using his good hand to fiddle with his beard. Sage smiled. "And I take it that you asked my room mates to join too." He asked as he opened a cabinet and grabbed a tea kettle.

The man nodded. "They accepted and now I am asking you. The group is called AVALANCHE , and its main objective is to topple Shinra to save the planet!" The man said pumping his gun arm. Sage filed the kettle with water and grabbed a cup. "Would you and the little girl like some?" He asked calmly. The large man was taken back. Sage had remained calm and his expression gave nothing away. The man considered the younger man for a moment before nodding. "Shinra is using these reactors to suck up-" Sage halted him with a hand. "I know sir. I know. The planet is in pain and its dying. Sometimes I here it screaming. Or, atleast I think I do. In any case, sense this isn't a group based to go and grab picket sighns I will join. But I'm not as useful as you might think I am." Sage said calmly. "I havn't mastered attack magic yet and there are limits to it. I can't use Materia either. By the way... What is your name sir? You and the little lady haven't introduced yourselves."

The man took a deep breath and exhaled. Sage noted this man was tense speaking to him. This man was worries about someone who could use magic at will. "My name is Barret and the shy little girl behind me is my daughter Marlene." He said patting the girl on the head with his good hand. Sage smiled at the little girl and turned on the water. "So Ulva, are you joining us as well?" He said running his hands through the water. Ulva shook her head. "I have to go pretty soon Sage. I just wanted to check up on you that's all" She said simply.

Sage nodded and walked over to Barret and knelled down. The girl hid behind him shaking. "Hey, Look what I have.." Sage said as he held out a white flower. It was made of ice but it appeared as if it really was a frozen flower. It was shape like a rose. The girl opened her eyes and looked toward Sage's kind smiling face. She smiled at the flower and held her hands out for it. "No thorns?" she asked, Sage shook his head and she took it but gasped. It had turned into glass and gained a blue hue around the petals. She smiled up at Sage. "Thank you Magic Man!" She said as she showed her father the flower. "Look Pa Pa!" Sage stood up and frowned. He turned away and shut of the running water. The tea water was ready.

With a wave of his hand Sage made the chairs at the table pull out for them to sit in. "Although, I can still do a little magic here and a little..." He trailed of as Wedge sat down on the chair and phased through it stumbling back and landing on his butt. "Illusion there." The little girl laughed and Wedge grumbled as he grabbed the chair and sat down this time, making sure it was real. Sage severed the tap to everyone using sweetener for the rest and reserving himself to straight tea. "Headquarters is in sector Seven at a bar Called Seventh Heaven. Meet me there tomorrow." He said after the room finished their tea in silence. Sage nodded, his roomies saluted and said, "Yes sir!" Sage sighed after Barret and Marlene left. "Well, life here is getting interesting."


End file.
